Brazil Will Finish BR-163 Paving in 2019, the Key for Agribusiness

Brazil will finish paving the BR-163 highway, key for agribusiness, and another short stretch of the road that links it to the Miritituba (PA) fluvial port by the end of this year, said infrastructure minister, TarcísioFreitas, on Wednesday.

Freitas told reporters that the road will likely be privatized by 2020.

The poor state of the BR-163 and the lack of paving in one stretch have already proven to be a major bottleneck for transporting agricultural production in MatoGrosso, the country’s largest soy producer, to northern ports.

“We already have contracts for the stretches that are unpaved … the ministry’s goal is to finish the paving by the end of this year,“ he said.